these days, there is much talk about the alternative fuel and clean-burning as an alternative for petrol. Palestine is known to be very poor country in terms of fossil fuel resources. At the same time, energy alternatives are not defined well specially the non-conventional types such as biomass. Biomass can be defined as material which is recently derived from animals, and plants that use sunlight to grow.
In this research, all types and amount of biomass that exist in Palestine that can be used as an alternative fuel for petrol was analyzed and defined by a comprehensive field survey. The sources of clean and alternative energy which depend on the biomass using traditional and new technologies were discussed.
This research aims to investigate the biomass and new process to find out a durable and a reliable alternative energy source for Palestinians.
All results in this study showed biomass waste can be used to produce a new energy source in the form of clean fuel and high efficienc

Herbalism has a long tradition of use outside of conventional medicine even before recorded history. It is becoming more mainstream as improvements in analysis and quality control along with advances in clinical research show the value of herbal medicine in the treating and preventing inflammatory and other diseases. This focuses the attention on the possibility of the presence of anti-allergic compounds in the extracts of some plants that may help control common allergic diseases including asthma. To test the possible anti-allergic and prophylactic effects of the aqueous extract of Thymus serpyllum L. (Ts) on ovalbumin-induced asthma clinical and hematological parameters in Syrian hamster models

Objective: The objectives of the study were to identify the rate of using hair dyes among Palestinian women, preferences, motivations and attitudes towards their use.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between May and July 2011. A self-administered questionnaire was used.

Results: Among 200 females interviewed, 149 (74.5%) said that they used hair dyes. Their reasons were to hide gray hair in 35 (23.5%), to improve the outlook in 36 (24.2%), and to change and to follow the new trends in 78 (52.3%). Natural dyes (henna) were the choice for 38.9%. The main reason behind the preference of natural dyes was the belief they are safer than chemical dyes. A small percentage used hair dyes during pregnancy, and 21.5% thought that hair dyes may cause cancer.

Published at:Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology 2014, 9:15 doi:10.1186/1745-6673-9-15

Background
Radiographers report many unexplained work related symptoms attributed to \"darkroom disease symptoms\" such as headache, skin rash, mouth sores, blurred vision, palpitation, and chemical taste. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of occupationally-related darkroom disease symptoms among male radiographers in the West Bank hospitals.
Methods
A cross sectional study was conducted on a non-random purposive sample of male radiographers (study group) and nurses (control group) using a previously validated and standardized questionnaire.
Results
We were able to recruit 330 radiographers and 242 nurses. Data analysis showed that the majority of both groups aged between (36-43) years. Furthermore, the differences in the reported prevalence of symptoms among radiographers showed a statistically significant higher percentage for each reported symptom compared to nurses (P-values <0.001). In multivariate linear regression, staying more than

The prevalence and the species of Eimeria oocysts in 180 fecal samples of immature and
adult domestic Awassi sheep were screened in 16 farms in four provinces northern
Palestine, the overall incidence of the all types of coccidian oocysts was 68.75%. The
prevalence of the oocysts in was significantly higher (p<0.05) in farms in Tubas (mean
100%) compared to Jenin (mean 75%), Nablus (mean 50%) and Tulkarem (mean 50%).
The prevalence of the oocysts was significantly higher (p<0.05) in immature sheep (less
than one year) with mean of 60% compared to adult sheep (more than a year) with mean
of 40%. Eight species of Eimeria were indentified, they (and their prevalence) were E.
Crandalis (18.88%), E. Parva (14.44%), E. Intricata (12.77%), E. Ovina (10%), E.
Ahsata (8.88%), E. Ovinoidalis (8.33%), E. Pallida (7.22%) and E. Faurei )%6666(, a
single infection was not observed, all of the infected sheep had mixed infections with two
to five species.

Background
Conservative methods for weight loss are usually disappointing. Therefore, surgeries such as Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy (LSG) should be considered. We aimed to evaluate the outcomes (body mass index; BMI) of LSG among obesity patients in the Northern West Bank.
Methods
Hospital records were reviewed for all patients who had undergone LSG since 2010 in Arab specialized hospital in Nablus and Palestinian Red Crescent society hospital in Tulkarem. Then, patients have been invited again to participate in the study and asked to self-report further pre-/post-operative measures. The primary study outcome was the change in BMI while secondary outcomes included obesity associated co-morbidities’ measures; hypertension (HTN) and diabetes mellitus (DM).
Results
The mean age (standard deviation; SD) of the study participants (n = 30; 20 women and 10 men) was 34.06 (10.71) years. The mean (SD) follow-up time was 7.16 (5.05) months. The mean